


Positioning

by zarabithia



Category: Star Trek (2009)
Genre: Community: 18coda, Community: kissbingo, Fluff, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-31
Updated: 2011-01-31
Packaged: 2017-10-15 06:35:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/158033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/pseuds/zarabithia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nyota woke up first, of course. She usually did.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Positioning

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the following prompts: greetings: good morning at kissbingo | Ritenuto slow down at once~smell the roses, stop before we go any further at 18coda

  
Nyota woke up first, of course. She usually did.

Sometimes she considered why that was, when she lied in bed, nuzzled between her two men. Maybe it was the positioning itself - she could feel every shift, every breath, every half-murmured sleepy declaration on her skin. It needed to be said, after all, that neither of her lovers were particularly _graceful_.

It was an odd adjustment, in the beginning, getting used to lying between them when her last partner had been all smooth lines and flowing movements. Like all Vulcans, Spock possessed the grace of a cat, and often he would wake first and rise long before Nyota ever woke up.

Her present companions had all the grace of the Northern Primates on Ceti Alpha I and were full of sharp lines and jagged edges. It was a difference that took some getting used to, but the difference wasn't without its own sense of charm.

Lying there, Nyota traced the roughness of Leonard's beard, all three days worth, and smiled at the memory of those hairs tickling her most sensitive spots. His face remained tense, the burdens of being a doctor on a ship that faced constant exposure to life-threatening lifeforms and situations still written across his brows, even while he rested. But Leonard was comparatively still, one warm surgeon's hand pressed against her stomach.

 _Touch._ So many words in so many dialects existed for the both the action and the noun, and for a while, Nyota was content to lie there and search her extensive vocabulary for a word much more appropriate than the limited Federation Standard.

Her smile dimmed somewhat as Jim shifted from his side onto his back, revealing the steady line of bruises along his jaw, souvenirs obtained from the last mission. Despite all that her opinion had been given reason to change when it came to James Kirk, one thing remained true: he still loved breaking the rules. The number one rule they'd all learned in Starfleet was that it wasn't a captain's place to go leading landing parties. The Captain's place was with the ship - no matter how many Pikes or Kirks might disagree with that assessment.

She knew that it gave Starfleet an endless supply of headaches. The admirals did not always do the best job in shielding their disdain verbally or physically; some didn't even try. Nyota was the one to intercept those communications and there were many days that she agreed with the admirals entirely.

But she also realized that, if Jim was less willing to prove that he would give his life for his landing party just as readily as he would give his life for his ship, she wouldn't want him nearly as much.

It was partially because of that want, and partially because of the concern about nightmares that being a captain gave him, that she leaned over and laid her palm on his chest. The movements were firmer and more deliberate than Spock's had been, but they served the same purpose as when he had taught them to Nyota.

Jim shifted again, almost immediately, as his eyes opened. As the dream faded and reality set in, he gave his best imitation at a cocky Kirk grin. "Funny how often you wake me up. Am I really that irresistible, Lieutenant?"

"No ranks in the bedroom," she said dryly, then rolled her eyes for good measure. "I'd quit waking you up if you'd quit getting in trouble and then having nightmares about not being able to get out of it."

"I never have nightmares about that, _Nyota_ ," Jim denied. "I have nightmares about not being able to get my crew out of it. That's an entirely different thing."

"You really need to set up an appointment with Dr. Noel. Have I mentioned that lately?"

"You, Bones, Pike..." Jim gave a vague hand-waving gesture that was merely dismissive in their cultures, but was offensive in at least ten and punishable by death in two.

Nyota opted not to mention that last part aloud. "Well, when your nightmares are interfering with your ability to sleep, it's not unreasonable for the people who care about you to think that maybe you should see the ship's psychiatrist. Getting help isn't a sign of weakness, you know."

"You know, I liked this conversation better when I could pretend its purpose was to lead up to having more sex," Jim answered.

 _Avoidance_. Uhura's favorite language for that came from Tamarians, where it was the exact same word used to describe someone being an asshole.

"A gentleman should never assume he is going to be having sex," she advised.

"I'm the captain; I never have to be gentlemanly. That's what we have Bones for," Jim asserted. He smiled fondly in Leonard's direction. "All frowny and hairy in his sleep. Looks like a bear."

Nyota ran her fingers lightly through Leonard's hair and didn't mention that Jim looked much like a cricket when he slept - always jumpy, always moving, never still. "I've never seen a bear in person," she said, instead.

"Really?"

Nyota nodded. "I've seen a lion, though. From what the books tell me, that's much more impressive."

Beneath her fingers, Leonard stirred and slowly blinked his eyes open, while Jim looked at her skeptically. "You grew up in a city. The nearest lions couldn't have been closer than what, 100 miles?"

Leonard continued to watch them, taking in the scene and its meaning while Nyota and Jim talked. Nyota continued to run her fingers affectionately through his hair. "More like 200," she answered. "But I never liked fences, even as a child."

Jim tilted his head and considered. "That explains a lot. So baby Uhura went lion hunting, huh?"

"Never hunting. I didn't _kill_ them."

"You can hunt things without killing them," Jim insisted.

"Some day," Leonard interrupted, "the two of you are going to take pity on me and have a conversation that makes honest to god real sense in the morning."

"Now, Bones, why would we ever do that?" Jim asked.

Leonard rolled his eyes and sat up. "Good morning," he yawned, a greeting extended to them both.

"It is a pretty good morning," Nyota agreed.

"Yep. Know what would make it better?" Jim suggested.

Nyota might have been more subtle about it. Leonard might have suggested breakfast first. But neither exactly disagreed with Jim.

Nyota's first kiss of the morning went to Leonard, her second went to Jim, and from there, she stopped counting.


End file.
